NYT: (SC) Justices Hand Down Ruling on Special-Education Disputes

[DeepModem Mom]

Justices Hand Down Ruling on Special-Education Disputes
By DAVID STOUT
Published: November 14, 2005


WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 - The Supreme Court ruled today, in a case of intense interest to educators and millions of parents, that people who demand changes to their children's special-education programs have the burden of proving those programs inadequate.

The court decided, 6 to 2, that the party bringing a challenge to a disabled child's "individualized education program" before an administrative law judge has the responsibility of showing that it is unsatisfactory.

The majority, in an opinion by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, held that the 1970's Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, sometimes referred to as IDEA, does not necessarily place the onus on the school district. Rather, the majority said, the burden of proof is on whoever brings the challenge - the parents, as in this case, or the school district.

Justice O'Connor rejected the argument that a school district ought to bear the burden of proof more or less automatically because they have more resources than individual parents. The act in question, she said, gives parents plenty of power in disputes over individualized education programs.

"They are not left to challenge the government without a realistic opportunity to access the necessary evidence, or without an expert with the firepower to match the opposition," Justice O'Connor wrote. She was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter and Clarence Thomas....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/politics/14cnd-scotus.html?hp&ex=1132030800&en=dacac51ecb8c77ac&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[jody]

1. I wish we would fund "gifted student programs" as well as we fund those

with learning disabilities.

[Native]

3. I agree totally.

[1monster]

6. I wish that all students had the same types of education and opportunities

that are given to gifted students when gifted programs are funded. Those classes were far more interesting and they were FUN for the kids. Too often (especially since the TEST has become the end all in education), there is no fun, no enjoyment, and no interest in learning for kids who are not in gifted programs.

Most people learn better by doing.

[jwirr]

8. As the mother of one child needing special ed and two

how needed advanced learning programs but did not always get them due to lack of funds, I agree. In a sense both are special ed classes, only at both ends of the spectrum. Leaving the gifted without the opportunity to fulfill their potential is a waste for all of us.

[depakid]

19. TAG kids are often woefully disserved by public education

and even where districts are mandated to fund appropriate programs, they frequently won't.

Believe it or not- gifted kids have a lower high school completion rate throughout the country than "normal" kids- and they often fall into substance abuse and social isolation.

Talk about a waste-

[jody]

20. RE "gifted kids have a lower high school completion rate". Do you have a

source because I would like to use it in my letters lobbying for better funding for gifted students?

Thanks and :hi:

[Realityhack]

21. You might be able to find some stuff from...

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/

Its important to note that not all TAG children are the same. There is a HUGE diffrence between someone who is one SD above the mean and someone who is 3.
That will affect high school completion rates as well. Children just a little above average tend to do very well in school. Those massively above average tend to have very negative experiences.

BTW if you have a Gifted child (or know one) share that URL. There is a very good section for the kids themselves.

You might start here:
http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/underachiever.htm

[jody]

24. Thanks.

:hi:

[Realityhack]

27. Your welcome

check out http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/ridiculous_things.htm for some idiocy... sure you have similar stories.

[KamaAina]

25. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive

it really gives school districts fits when someone shows up who has a disability and superlative talent! They don't know what to do since just sticking her in a corner won't work. :sarcasm:

[mcar]

26. Totally agree

We are leaving so many children behind -- my own included.

[mmonk]

31. Do gifted students have misfiring neurons

to deal with? It's funny, but whenever a budget needs cutting from where I'm from, it always starts with special education, never gifted students. You see, the teachers want the gifted students because of their achievement scores on end of grade tests which where I'm from, the schools with the highest schievement scores get rewarded. Nobody ever wanted our children, nor did they really want them to take end of the year tests or such. Maybe you live on a nice planet. The whole idea we have to beg the school system to teach our kids through a "bargaining" process called an IEP every term while we pay taxes as well is a crap system.

[dsc]

2. I disagree with this decision but IDEA is a gigantic unfunded mandate

The feds should fund this law much better as many districts with lots of special ed students, which almost always means a poor district, end up paying big bucks to educate these students leaving the rest with inferior educations.

[emlev]

4. Agreed.

[liberalhistorian]

5. Heaven forbid special-ed

students should be given any help. How dare they take away education resources from those who actually deserve it? :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Sorry for the seeming acidity, but as someone with a learning disability who has a son with Asperger's Syndrome, comments like yours really frost my cookies. And as someone whose parents are teachers, I can damn well guarantee you that most school districts skimp on special ed students and deeply resent having to do anything for them at all.

I'm forty, so most special ed programs came along too late to help my learning disability; it wasn't even diagnosed until my sophomore year of high school, meaning I went through ten years of hell in school, knowing I was smart yet not being able to figure out why things were so damned difficult for me. By the time it was diagnosed, it was really too late to do anything substantial to help. So I've suffered with that every day of my life.

And my son has Asperger's Syndrome, I had to fight the school district tooth and nail to get what he needed as far as his IEP was concerned, and it wasn't really that much. Had I not had parents as teachers and had I not, therefore, been pretty education-savvy as far as how the system works, I probably would have finally given up in frustration. And my son would have suffered for it. So please, try and think before you make comments like that.

[jazzjunkysue]

7. Um, I gotta say, that here in NY, special ed students get 10 times the $$

Some cost districts $50,000, to $100,000/year. Regular students average about $7,000, when you divide the budget total by the number of students. Affluent schools kick it up into the $15,000 range. Special ed rules require extra staff, so, one kid can cost an extra monitor at $7-10-15/hour, or even a teaching assistant, that runs about $30,000/year.

Add in the therapists: Speech, remedial, occupational ed, and it really adds up.

Maybe where you are the special ed kids are neglected, but where I teach, they get the lion's share of the dough.

[jwirr]

9. The money that is used for special ed students above the

mean used for other students is from a special fund from the feds and would not be given to the school unless they used it for that specific use. Special ed does not take away from the school budget per student because they get that extra $3000 from fed money. As to the specialties you mention they are not extras - they ARE special ed.

[jazzjunkysue]

10. Right. But the claim that they don't get any help doesn't hold water.

Regardless of where the $$ comes from, we all pay it.

[jwirr]

11. Yes and we all pay other medical costs for the needy too.

This help is less an education issue than it is a medical issue. The extra money that my daughter would have used for schooling then follows her into the sheltered workshop.

In the case of my daughter, she did not go to school at all until she was 14 years old because the school districts did not provide education at all to anyone who did not fit their learning curve. When she was 14 she started special ed. in the public schools. The specialists you mentioned worked with her doctors and psychologists to help her cope with her world. If this had not been accomplished in the school then the money would have been used at a treatment center of some kind or a hospital. I guess what I am trying to say is that money would not go to the schools if the programs ended.

The other issue is the per student money - the $7000. If the programs were ended then there would be a lot of parents of disabled children who would be paying taxes for schools that their own children could not attend. That is the issue that brought this group into public schools in the first place.

[dsc]

13. That 3000 doesn't cover the extra cost

It helps but it doesn't cover the whole thing.

[donco6]

30. That's not at all true.

I'm a school district CFO, and the federal reimbursement doesn't even hit 40% of the total cost of funding special education in my district. So if it's not coming from the feds, guess where it *is* coming from?

The kids that really cost us are the emotionally disturbed kids that we have to place in residential child care facilities. Those placements cost us in excess of $40,000 per year. And the number keeps growing as more and more RCCFs go belly-up because they can't seem to make ends meet. With fewer placement slots available, facilities can increase rates to no end.

So I'm sorry to say that you are mistaken in your belief that attempting to meet the needs of special education kids doesn't take money from regular ed kids. It does.

[HockeyMom]

17. My daughter and myself

She was Special Ed. Started out in self contained classes and by 5th grade was mainstreamed. She graduated HS with a 3.6 GPA (NY Regents Diploma). She is now at a SUNY college majoring in Education in her Junior year with a 3.0 GPA. She is going to get her Masters in Special Education. She also plans to teach special education kids in New York City, because she wants to "give something back for what SHE received". Not worth the money spent on her?

I also worked as a Special Education Teacher's Assistant. I worked part time (3 hours a day and NO BENEFITS) and made $12/hour. I tried to get a FULL TIME job, but couldn't. They were either all part time, or the few which were full time, were about, ready for this one, $8/hour WITH NO BENEFITS. I left the field. I went into the mental health field. The pay stinks, but at least it is full time with health benefits, and a PENSION. By the way, I do have a two year college degree and was certification eligible.

[jazzjunkysue]

18. Special ed teachers and TA'a are paid on exactly the same scale

as regular ed teachers and TA's. There is no distinction in salaries. You can easily argue that special ed teachers should be paid more, but they are most certainly not paid less.

[Realityhack]

29. I think that may depend...

upon wither the spec. ed teachers in question technicaly work for the same school district. Some special ed programs are colabrative programs that serve multiple comunities. These programs may have their own setups seperate from the towns.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. Thank you

As a stay-at-home dad of an autistic 6 year old in a contained SE class, I'd like to thank you for your post.

[dsc]

12. Special ed students cost way more money than regular ed ones

You can say the opposite until the cows come home and give birth to aliens but that doesn't change it. I am not saying your child isn't entitled to the service but think of a school system with say 25% special ed kids. That would quickly add up. I think the cost should be federalized so that poor districts don't get screwed.

[displacedtexan]

14. Districts are only reimbursed for an 11% SE population.

This is one of the many reasons lots of kids go undiagnosed.

[jwirr]

15. That is why the feds reimburse many of the costs.

[jwirr]

16. I totally agree with your idea to federalize the cost. But as

another poster said the feds still do not pay enough of the costs. The readers of this post may not know it but we are hitting on one of the biggest problems with nationalized health care - how to fit the long term recipient into the regular health care without raising the cost for everyone.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. Well said

[KamaAina]

28. Dems have been calling for full funding of IDEA since its inception

in the '70s; betcha can't guess who's been blocking it all this time? Hint: This was one of the major issues that caused Jim Jeffords, who co-authored IDEA when he was in the House, to leave the repuke party.

edit: At present IDEA is only funded at about 60% of what it would actually cost to fully fund it -- and that's only going down now that everything's about the test, and those doggone pesky disabled kids just get in the way of the test. :sarcasm:

[mmonk]

32. "good ole" Sandra Day O'Conner,

the so called "swing vote". Sorry, but she's been a leader in damaging IDEA. I don't think of her as a moderate. She's just another confederate IMO.